消费者短视和以旧换新情形下设计架构与定价策略研究

耐用品的耐用性会抑制了新一代耐用品的销售,企业通常会采用以旧换新政策来激励新一代耐用品的销售。企业有两种产品设计架构策略:一体化架构策略与模块化架构策略,同时企业也有两种定价策略:静态定价策略和动态定价策略。在这种情况下,企业该如何确定产品设计架构和定价策略?在假定两期内消费者是短视情形下,论文建立了消费者与企业博弈模型分析和比较了三种情况。研究发现,无论是静态定价还是动态定价,无论是模块化架构还是一体化架构,购买了第一代产品的消费者都会整体更换成第二代产品;随着第二代核心系统的质量提升,以旧换新促使企业产品架构选择从一体化架构转变为选择模块化架构;当采用动态定价、第二代核心系统质量提升适中和折扣因子高时,企业会选择模块化架构;当企业采用模块化架构时,以旧换新政策会降低模块化产品第二代核心子系统和基础子系统之间的兼容性;如果两代产品之间的质量差距比较大,企业将会选择动态定价策略,反之会选择静态定价策略。     

The compatibility of durable goods with contingent generic consumables

Many durable products provide value only when used together with contingent services or consumable components, e.g. light fixtures (bulbs), printers (ink), electronics (batteries). Consumers need only have access to the contingent consumable components to continue to derive service from a durable. In fact, many firms rely primarily upon the revenues generated from the contingent services or consumables as the primary source of profitability, e.g. giving away the razors to make money on the blades. Such firms often invest considerable effort into making sure that consumers of their durables are held captive to their own branded consumables by impeding their access to generically available consumables. They do so by designing their products in such a way that they are not readily compatible with the generic consumables. We consider the implications of competition from third-party manufacturers that can provide generic consumables and the manufacturer’s production decisions of a durable good under such contingencies. This allows us to draw managerial insights about how a firm should decide on his product compatibility and production quantity when the generic contingent consumables enter the market.     

产品召回供应链中线性保险合约与订货决策

考虑一个由单供应商和单制造商组成的二级供应链,在不确定市场需求情形下考虑产品召回,站在制造商角度研究供应链线性保险合约下的最优订货决策以及最优线性保险合约决策。研究表明,最优的订货决策与产品召回概率以及线性保险系数相关,存在唯一的最优订货量来最大化制造商的利润。对于密度函数倒数的导数较大的一般需求分布函数,最优的线性保险系数与线性保险合约的固定费用以及产品召回概率有关。当产品召回概率和线性保险合约的固定费用均较小时或者产品召回概率较大但线性保险合约的固定费用适中时,制造商通过选择线性保险合约可以改善自己的利润。     

The product cycle model of foreign direct investment and developing country welfare

Raymond Vernon's product-cycle model predicts two distinctive kinds of foreign direct investment in developing countries: fist, subsidiaries whose operations are tightly integrated into the parent's strategy to advance its competitive position in international markets; second, subsidiaries toward the host market whose profits help fund the needs of the parent but whose output is not an integral part of the parent's global sourcing network. In practice, the latter are frequently subject to domestic content, joint venture, and technology-sharing requirements; the former almost never are. How do the two kinds of foreign direct investment differ in their impact on host country development? Somewhat surprisingly, to those who may be wary of what Vernon himself reffered to as “captive” plants, foreign investor operations intimately linked into the parent's global sourcing network make a systematically larger and more dynamic contribution to the host economy via the activities of the affiliates themselves, via backward linkages to local suppliers, and via spillovers and externalities. Foreign investor operations impeded from close integration via domestic content, joint venture, and technology-sharing requirement provide a much less positive and sometimes genuinely negative impact, especially if they are protected by trade barriers or other forms of market exclusivity.     

History matters: The impact of reviews and sales of earlier versions of a product on consumer and expert reviews of new editions

Product reviews are assumed to be based on the observable characteristics of the underlying product. However, in the case of new editions in a product series, the determinants may include signals that originate from the reviews and the sales of editions that precede the focal product edition. Our analysis of 577 video games released in a series between 2000 and 2009 indicates that the reviews of earlier versions carry over to the reviews of the sequel by the same type of reviewer. We also find that expert reviews are influenced by the average review of previous editions by consumers and the average sales of previous editions of the product. This suggests that experts tend to adapt to the taste of consumers. Furthermore, it is found that a lack of consensus, between reviewers of a particular type, weakens the impact of average past reviews, whilst it magnifies the impact of the sales of earlier versions.     

The risk implications of diversification: Integrating the effects of product and geographic diversification

The risk implications of product diversification have received considerable attention from scholars. However, our understanding of the effects of geographic diversification on risk is more limited. Relying on resource-based theory to frame our arguments, we argue that despite some similarities, the two types of diversification have differing effects on firm risk. We first establish the risk reducing effects for product diversification. We then integrate the unique aspects of geographic diversification that serve as a boundary condition to the RBV perspective, arguing for the risk increasing effects of geographic diversification. Finally, since many firms pursue both forms of diversification simultaneously, we explore the joint effects of both product and geographic diversification. We test our hypotheses in a longitudinal model on a sample of S&P 500 firms. Our findings suggest that total product diversification, as well as related diversification reduce risk, while total geographic diversification increases risk. Furthermore, our data provide evidence of a complex combination of joint effects of these two forms of diversification. These findings offer a more complete understanding of the risk effects of corporate diversification.     

The impact and management of cognitive gap in high performance product development organizations

The close alignment of applied research and development units with manufacturing operational structures can provide excellent opportunities for maintaining robust product pipelines and reducing product development cycle times. Within such an integrated organizational model (IOM), however, lies a potentially disruptive psychological mechanism that can lead to the dissolution of this delicate partnership if it is not handled properly. This mechanism is cognitive gap, which can take several basic forms: first, as differences between the nature and difficulty of the problem at hand and the cognitive resources of the problem solvers tasked with its solution; and second, as differences between the cognitive abilities and approaches of the problem solvers themselves. In this paper, we define and discuss cognitive gap within the context of Kirton's Adaption-Innovation theory, a useful framework for understanding problem solving (and problem solvers) in general. Specific implications (both favourable and potentially destructive) of cognitive gaps for high performance product development organizations are discussed, and suggestions for their effective management are offered.     

Overcoming pandemic challenges through product innovation: The role of digital technologies and servitization

The fast-changing scenario related to the COVID-19 pandemic calls for firms to rapidly redefine and innovate their strategies to sustain their businesses, with research emphasizing the key roles of digital technologies and servitization. We aim to enrich the theoretical debate on this matter by assessing how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) achieve product innovation under time constraints by leveraging two specific technology groups (information and communication technologies [ICT] and Industry 4.0 data-processing technologies) and servitization. The research is based on a mixed-method approach consisting of an original survey completed by 257 Italian SMEs (grounded on a previous qualitative study about such SMEs' behaviors during the first Italian lockdown), followed by in-depth interviews with the owners and/or managers of the eight SMEs that participated in the survey. The results show a positive relationship between the increased use of digital technologies (ICT and Industry 4.0 data-processing technologies) during the pandemic with servitization and, in turn, with product innovation. Specifically, the increased use of ICT during the pandemic had a direct positive effect on product innovation, while Industry 4.0 data-processing technologies affected product innovation only through the full mediation of servitization. The qualitative study allowed us to highlight how the different kinds of digital technologies supported SMEs’ innovation (servitization and product innovation) during the pandemic. The theoretical and practical contributions of this study are discussed.     

Breadth of external knowledge sourcing and product innovation: The moderating role of strategic human resource practices

Prior research has argued that external knowledge sourcing can be supported by effective strategic human resource (HR) practices. However, whether and how the adoption of new organizational mechanisms in group settings influences the relationship between external search strategies and innovation performance represents an unanswered question. Therefore, the present paper aims to explore the relationship between the breadth of external knowledge sourcing (i.e., external search breadth) and product innovation by unveiling the moderating effects of strategic HR practices, as represented by the implementation of heterogeneous work groups and brainstorming sessions. On the basis of data from the Italian Innovation Survey, our results reveal that external search breadth is curvilinearly (inverted U) related to product innovation, and its negative effects occur later in the presence of heterogeneous work groups and brainstorming sessions.     

Hybridizing logistic regression with product unit and RBF networks for accurate detection and prediction of banking crises

As the current crisis has painfully proved, the financial system plays a crucial role in economic development. Although the current crisis is being of an exceptional magnitude, financial crises are recurrent phenomena in modern financial systems. The literature offers several definitions of financial instability, but for our purposes we identity financial crisis with banking crisis as the most common example of financial instability. In this paper we introduce a novel model for detection and prediction of crises, based on the hybridization of a standard logistic regression with product unit (PU) neural networks and radial basis function (RBF) networks. These hybrid approaches are fully described in the paper, and applied to the detection and prediction of banking crises by using a large database of countries in the period 1981–1999. The proposed techniques are shown to perform better than other existing statistical and artificial intelligence methods in this problem.     

信息技术投资降低搜索成本对市场的均衡分析

根据产品空间差异模型 ,应用博弈论的均衡理论 ,分析了在销售商不进行合谋或没有市场垄断力量的情况下 ,销售商投资信息技术以后 ,引起消费者搜索成本降低对销售商产生的不同影响 :销售商无论作为个体还是整体 ,其利润收益值都降低 .但是 ,对信息技术投资力度大并使消费者搜索成本降低得更多的销售商 ,则可扩大市场占有率和提高市场竞争力 ,因此销售商具有投资激励 .分析了销售商在降低搜索成本后的对应策略 .搜索成本降低尽管减少了销售商利润 ,但能提高消费者和整个社会的福利水平 .分析了当消费者搜索成本降低到极限时 ,市场处于一种最优的古典竞争均衡状态 ,价格等于边际成本 ,销售商利润为零 ,消费者占有完全剩余 .分析和解释了信息技术生产率悖论问题     

慈善营销中契合度、熟悉度和产品性质对消费者响应的影响

本文通过实验设计,探讨了慈善营销中产品与慈善组织的契合度、消费者对慈善组织的熟悉度以及产品性质对消费者响应的影响,并得出了结论:契合度、熟悉度和产品性质对消费者响应存在主效应,契合度与熟悉度之间、契合度与产品性质之间存在交互效应。根据研究结论,作者针对企业选择合作伙伴、开展慈善营销提出了相应的启示。     

An evaluation of product commonality and group technology production methods in a pre-defined multiple-machine scenario

Group technology has been used successfully for a number of years as a setup reduction tool. It is especially valuable in low-volume high-mix manufacturing environments where products and machines may be partitioned into product families and machine cells. The partitioning of machines or processes into cells may be limited by practical constraints, and the partitioning of products is complicated as the number of products and processes increases. In this paper, the authors examine the behaviour of various grouping strategies lauded as being appropriate in situations where machine partitioning and product routeing are determined by technological constraints. Of specific experimental concern in this paper is the effect of the mean and variance of component part commonality between products on system performance under various grouping strategies in a multiple-machine environment.     

一类具有生存/危险特征的生鲜品价格策略研究

研究了一个周期内零售商对一种易变质生鲜品的订购和价格决策问题。引入价格转折点概念,变质率具有三参数生存/危险特征的Weibull分布,需求率依赖于变质率和价格,建立利润最大化的目标函数,将求解最优价格的问题转化为带有控制的Bolza问题,得到最优价格表达式。通过算例,研究了价格敏感度和价格转折点变化对利润的影响,进一步给出了灵敏度分析和价格弹性分析;对于生鲜品,随着时间的推移,销售价格越来越低;对销售价格敏感的顾客,销售量随着价格转折点的滞后而降低,但在整个销售阶段的1/2到3/5附近进行价格调整有助于增加利润。     

External technology acquisition and product innovativeness: The moderating roles of R&D investment and configurational context

An increasing number of studies in technology/innovation management contribute to the understanding of the relationship between external technology acquisition and product innovation performance. On the other hand, the meta-analytic reviews of new product development literature indicate a positive impact of product innovativeness on product innovation performance. However, existing research has not examined the link between external technology acquisition and product innovativeness. This study, therefore, aims to fill this gap of knowledge by investigating the external technology acquisition—product innovativeness relationship and examining the moderating roles of R&D investment and configurational context on this link. Based on a panel sample of 105 high-technology firms over a six-year period, a least squared dummy variable s model reveals interesting results. First, external technology acquisition has a positive impact on product innovativeness. Second, R&D investment increases the effect of external technology acquisition on product innovativeness. Lastly, firm size exhibits a negative effect on the contribution of external technology acquisition to product innovativeness. However, firm age positively impacts the relationship between external technology acquisition and product innovativeness. In addition, this study reveals a positive effect of product innovativeness on firm growth.     

跟单服务与溢短交易驱动下产能分享供应链均衡策略选择

考虑由于信息不对称等原因导致的产能分享双方订单与实际交付不一致的情形,本文构建了由产能买方,产能卖方和第三方跟单服务商组成的产能分享供应链系统,并研究“溢短交易”和“跟单服务”对产能交付率提升发挥的作用。考虑产能卖方决策是否选择溢短交易模式,产能买方决策是否接受跟单服务,本文采用博弈论分析了产能买卖双方的占优策略以及双方的均衡策略组合。研究发现,溢短交易和跟单服务都可以降低产能分享的加入门槛,使得更多企业加入到产能分享中。当次品率相对较高,或跟单服务效果相对较好时,买卖双方倾向于接受跟单服务,采取普通交易模式;相反,当次品率相对较低,或跟单服务效果相对较差时,买卖双方倾向于采取溢短交易模式,不接受跟单服务。本文进一步给出了溢短交易和跟单服务的均衡策略及其条件,为产能买卖双方对合作对象的选择及相关决策提供了依据。     

The associations between work stress and mental health: A comparison of organizationally employed and self-employed workers

This study examined the associations between work stressors and mental health in organizationally employed and self-employed workers, and with the numbers of general practitioner (GP) services used by these two employment groups. The participants were selected from those already taking part in the PATH Through Life Project, in Australia. A total of 2275 men and women aged from 40 to 44 years participated in a community survey and were in the labour force at the time of the interview. Those who participated entered responses into a hand-held computer under the supervision of an interviewer. A total of 14.2% of the group identified themselves as self-employed. Respondents also provided details of their occupation and the extent to which they experienced work stressors. Some 72.6% of these participants gave consent for information on their use of GP services over a 12-month period to be obtained from national insurance records. We found that self-employed men and women reported more decision authority than the organizationally employed, while self-employed women also had more manageable job demands. Self-employment offered men no health benefit. However, women who were self-employed reported worse physical health than their organizationally employed counterparts. While work stress factors were most likely to be associated with the use of GP services by self-employed men, the use of those services by women was more strongly associated with their experiences of stress in organizational employment. Overall, self-employment was found to be associated with relatively few mental health benefits.     

The theory of constraints: a methodology apart?—a comparison with selected OR/MS methodologies

Mingers (J. Oper. Res. Soc. 54 (2003) 559; Int. Trans. Oper. Res. 7 (2000) 673; J. Mingers, A. Gill (Eds.), Multimethodology: Towards the Theory and Practice of Combining Management Science Methodologies, Wiley, Chichester, 1997), Mingers and Brocklesby (Omega—Int. J. Manage. Sci. 25(5) (1997) 489; Systemist 18(3) (1996) 101) and others have sought to develop classificatory frameworks that would be useful in understanding the nature and characteristics of Operational Research/Management Science (OR/MS) methodologies and the philosophical assumptions underpinning them. This paper extends their work to the domain of methods and methodologies known as the Theory of Constraints (TOC). In particular, the paper helps position TOC methods and tools in relation to traditional OR/MS methodologies, methods and tools, and provides a basis for continuing multi-methodological development across the two domains.The paper concludes that the tools, techniques and methods of TOC can be viewed as a methodological set of complementary hard and soft tools and methods that contribute to all phases of activity and across all three social, personal and material dimensions of the Mingers–Brocklesby framework, and share the ontological and epistemological characteristics and assumptions of extant OR/MS methodologies.     

并购后控制与并购绩效的关系研究:基于合法性的调节效应

主并企业对被并企业的控制会影响并购绩效,而企业的各种利益相关者对于企业并购的态度即并购合法性会对并购后控制与并购绩效之间的关系产生影响。基于123个样本实证分析得到如下结论:主并企业对被并企业的非正式控制程度对主并企业的并购绩效具有显著积极作用,而正式控制程度与并购绩效之间没有显著相关性;并购的外部合法性对并购后正式控制与并购绩效之间的关系具有显著的正向调节作用,而并购的内部合法性对并购后非正式控制与并购绩效之间的关系具有显著的负向调节作用。研究结论对于中国企业的并购后决策以及如何实现并购目标具有理论指导价值。     

Fostering Risk Taking in Research and Development: The Importance of a Project's Terminal Value

Large firms face a conflict in managing a portfolio of high-risk projects. When an ongoing project is thought to have a low likelihood of success, project team members take risks to improve its chances of success. However, upper-level managers who allocate resources tend to withhold resources from a project with a low likelihood of success in favor of others in the portfolio that look more promising. Because this paucity of resources influences project team members to avoid risk, the total effect of success likelihood on risk taking is conflicted. The influence on risk taking of a project's terminal value—defined as the value that remains in the firm in the event of project failure—is unequivocally positive, because both senior management resource allocation and project team risk-taking propensity are encouraged by terminal value. Thus, firms can override the ambivalent effect of likelihood of success on project decision making by focusing attention on a project's terminal value.